RT Book, Section
A1 Gomella, Tricia Lacy
A1 Cunningham, M. Douglas
A1 Eyal, Fabien G.
A1 Tuttle, Deborah J.
SR Print(0)
ID 1107527544
T1 Transillumination
T2 Neonatology: Management, Procedures, On-Call Problems, Diseases, and Drugs, 7e
YR 2013
FD 2013
PB McGraw-Hill Education
PP New York, NY
SN 9780071768016
LK accesspediatrics.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1107527544
RD 2024/04/23
AB Transillumination  is  the  use  of  a  strong  light  as  a  noninvasive  tool  for  bedside  diagnosis  and  aiding  in  procedures.  By  shining  a  bright  light  through  an  area  of  the  body  or  an  organ,  one  can  diagnose  abnormal  air,  fluid,  or  a  nonsolid  mass.  One  can  also  localize  vessels,  verify  urine  in  the  bladder,  and  aid  in  insertion  in  many  procedures.  ProceduresLocalize  an  artery  or  vein  for  vessel  cannulation  or  blood  sampling.Bladder  aspiration.  Transillumination  verifies  the  presence  of  urine  in  the  bladder  and  shows  the  size  and  location  of  the  bladder.Cannulation  of  umbilical  vessels.  Transillumination  identifies  path  of  the  vessels  and  can  identify  a  false  passage  of  an  umbilical  catheter.Aid  in  oro/nasoduodenal  feeding  tube  insertion  (by  gauging  distension  of  stomach  with  air).Chest  tube  thoracostomy/pericardiocentesis.  Transillumination  can  document  the  success  of  air  removal  in  a  pneumothorax  or  in  a  pneumopericardium.Serial  transillumination  for  infants  at  high  risk  for  pneumothorax.Diagnostic.  Air  or  fluid  or  nonsolid  masses  will  light  up  brightly  when  transilluminated.  Solid  masses  will  appear  dark.  Normally  there  is  a  2-cm  area  of  lucency  around  the  probe.  If  there  is  more  than  2-cm  lucency,  the  test  is  abnormal  and  further  testing  may  have  to  be  done.  Chest  abnormalities.  Air  leaks  in  infants  (such  as  pneumothorax,  pneumomediastinum,  and  pneumopericardium)  can  be  suspected  and  some  diagnosed  at  the  bedside  with  transillumination.  The  thin  wall  of  the  infant's  chest  makes  it  easy  to  transilluminate,  and  as  little  as  10  mL  of  free  air  can  be  detected.  Obtain  a  baseline  transillumination  on  any  infant  at  a  high  risk  for  an  air  leak.Abnormalities  in  the  head.  Such  as  hydrocephaly,  intracranial  hemorrhage,  subdural  effusion,  subdural  hematoma,  skull  fractures,  hydrocephalus,  hydranencephaly,  anencephaly,  porencephaly,  encephalocele,  and  large  cerebral  cysts.  Transillumination  of  the  skull  is  known  as  skull  diaphanoscopy.  It  can  be  used  as  a  screening  tool  for  macrocephaly.Differentiate  cystic  from  solid  masses.  Such  as  cystic  hygroma,  a  congenital  macrocystic  lymphatic  malformation  commonly  found  in  the  left  base  of  the  neck,  that  reveals  complete  transillumination.Abdominal  abnormalities.  Such  as  ascites,  distended  bowel,  pneumoperitoneum,  cysts,  perforated  bowel  in  male  infants  with  a  patent  processus  vaginalis.Genitourinary  abnormalities.  Such  as  distended  bladder,  hydrocele,  hydronephrosis,  cystic  kidneys.